"Come on Sakura, stay with me."
Kakashi sprinted the ninja way through the forest, from tree branch to branch, holding an injured pink-haired kunoichi to his chest.
"Kakash…I can't…I can't…" Her eyes were clamped closed, brows crashing together in pain and breathing hard. She had been able to heal the wounds to stop the bleeding on the outside, but she hadn't had enough chakra to heal the internal bleeding of her lungs. There had been too many Rain ninja for her to handle them all on her own.
"Yes, you can. Open your eyes. Just a little bit longer, Sakura. We're almost to the hospital."
Her head lolled back and he moved his arms to support her neck. He could tell that she was fighting the wave of unconsciousness, but she was going to go under soon if he didn't hurry.
"Hold on just a little bit longer," he murmured, the tack of his ninja shoes increasing in rapid succession as they hit the branches.
"I ca- I can't, Kaka…shi…" Her breathing was coming out in shallower pants and he didn't have to be a medic to know that that was a bad sign.
"Please Sakura, just hold on. I can't lose you. Not like the others." His mind's eye flashed back to the tragedy over a year ago and he couldn't shake the images from his head.
Sakura kneeled over one body, her hands working quickly, the green glow emanating from them as she scanned the black haired boy. Rain relentlessly poured over them and Sakura was glad that it was hiding her tears when she heard Kakashi land with a tack, arriving in front of her.
"Sasuke…don't do this…don't die…" she whimpered, biting her lip and willing herself not to let any more tears fall for the Uchiha boy. She cursed herself for not having the chakra needed to heal him enough to sustain him until they got back to the village.
"Sakura, where is Naruto?" Kakashi asked firmly. Her head dropped lower and the green orb around her hands weakened until it went out altogether, like the flame of a candle shushed by the wind.
"Over th-there."
Kakashi quickly followed the direction of her finger and leaped over to the orange clad boy. "Naruto? Naruto, what happened?" Kakashi took in the fact that the yellow haired nin was covered in more red than orange as he kneeled beside him.
Naruto coughed up blood and a few drops spattered onto the revealed skin of Kakashi's face, but he didn't flinch away. "A-ambush. Too many…" Naruto's eye lids fluttered before he gave under the crushing weight he felt.
Kakashi hung his head as he stood, gazing down at the last Uzumaki. He saw a few spots where Sakura had stemmed the bleeding, but it hadn't been enough. It had been clear that she was too worn out of chakra to do anything more and Kakashi new that just that thought would kill her.
"Kakashi…" she began as he came closer. He still couldn't see her face, shrouded as it was by the curtain of her limp hair. "Did Naruto…?"
She hadn't needed to say another word; he understood, and nodded his head solemnly. Kakashi watched her muscles tense, her fists clenched and body trembling under the cold sheet of rain. "Sasuke…N-naruto…I couldn't save them…neither of them…"
She stood up and limped towards Kakashi, falling into him because of her shattered ankle. He caught her in his arms before she hit the ground and held her there for a few moments before picking her up and heading top speed back to the village. We'll have to send a few nins to retrieve the bodies, Kakashi thought. They both deserved proper burials.
"Kakashi…you know the rule book says to never let your emotions show…" She sobbed hard and clutched at his vest in her feeble fingers. "I s-say screw the rule b-book."
No, Kakashi couldn't let that happen again. He couldn't protect Obito or Rin, and then he had been too late to protect Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura was all he had left of them. Sakura was all he had left.
Kakashi wouldn't let that happen again.
His pace doubled, despite the pain throbbing from the bleeding wounds in his arm and leg. He would survive, but if she didn't, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. It would be worse than hell on earth.
"Sakura, we're almost there. Keep your eyes open, keep them open. Look at me."
He looked down to see her trying her hardest to open those emerald eyes. She managed to keep them half-lidded for a while before the effort was too much and they crashed down again. "I can't…I can't, Kaka…I can't…"
"Yes you can." He gritted his teeth, the Konoha symbol engraved in the gates in his sight. "Almost there."
"Kaka…Kaka…shi…I…I…"
He could feel her shaking in his arms, her grip on his shirt going slack. No, he promised himself, and her. I won't let this happen again.
She coughed and sputtered, gasping for air, and a few droplets of blood flew to his face.
Just like Naruto.
No!
He sprinted between the gates and immediately took to the roofs, taking the quickest way he knew to the hospital. I will not relive this. I will not make her relive this.
"Keep your eyes open, Sakura. We're almost there. I can see the hospital."
When there was no response, he looked down only to find her delicate lips parted and eyes completely closed, her muscles slack. "No…no, Sakura. Please, Kami, no…"
He burst through the hospital entrance and yelled for help. He nearly bowled over Tsunade in the process, but she didn't get angry once she saw what was in Kakashi's arms.
"Bring her in here, now," she ordered swiftly, leading him to a room just two doors down from the entrance. He laid her down quickly on the clean white sheets and Tsunade wasted no time in putting her hands to work, the strong green orb enveloping them.
"Shizune! Get two more medics in here, now!" Tsunade barked as the black haired woman hurried by.
"Hai!" she replied, sprinting down the hallway to retrieve more assistance.
"Kakashi, what happened?"
Kakashi leaned against the doorway, panting dryly with a hand clutching at his arm; it felt like it was on fire. "I-I don't know, Tsunade-sama. She had been on an escort mission to the Land of Tea-" He cringed, a bolt of pain lancing through his arm and leg. He couldn't stand up straight without hurting.
"Do you think she was attacked on her journey back?" she asked calmly and authoritatively.
He nodded, his vision beginning to blur. Gazing down at his wounds, he realized that he had lost a lot of blood, possibly too much.
"Just…please save her, Tsunade…sama…" he breathed out before collapsing to the floor.
"Shizune! Where are my medics?" Kakashi heard before a blanket of black covered him.